The Puppy Resolutions #5: Slow it down.
Learning from our mistake of trying to do too much too quickly.
Childhood may be brief but puppyhood is even briefer. Now that Emma is two, I regret not slowing down and enjoying the puppy time more. She changed week to week, day to day. I was so busy checking off the boxes on my training plan that I missed a lot.
I wish I had taken a time to sit and watch her sleep, the tiny running paws, lip smacking and sleep woofs as she chased down (and finally caught!) a dream squirrel. I wish I had gotten down on the floor with her more and enjoyed playing, just for fun, no ulterior motive. I wish I had slowed down and really watched as she explored her first beach, her first forest, and her first park. There is only one first time.
At the time, I felt that I couldn’t slow down. I had a list of 50 commands that we were working through, plus potty training, crate training, and sleep training. In addition, I was training her not to do things: don’t bark, don’t bite, don’t jump, don’t eat toes, don’t unspool toilet paper, don’t gnaw on computer dongles. And also, get socialized to every conceivable variation of every person and every dog. Exhausting.
Our agility instructor says, “I have always had good luck with going slow.” She takes her time, works on each behavior one piece at a time, getting it locked into place. She doesn’t rush. If the dog isn’t getting it, she backs off, slows down and retraces her steps until they get it right. If the dog gets it wrong, it is her fault, not the dog’s. She wasn’t making things clear. This is a partnership approach. The dog is set up for success and training becomes a fun game to play together.
The irony is that in my rush to get all that training locked in, I ended up having to do a lot of extra work. I had to retrain commands that weren’t well proofed. I had to work hard to bring the fun back into training. And I had to do a lot of convincing to show the dog that I could be a wild and crazy human, not just a training robot.
The new puppy is a fast learner. When I catch myself starting to charge forward too quickly, I pause, mentally smack myself upside the head and remind myself to go slow. There will be years and years to train. There will be only one year of the puppy.